Don't pull the thread tight. This is easy to do because your hands tense up, but it makes your life more difficult if you have to (gulp) unpick, and can even deform the fabric. Snug is good, taut is bad.
Some people prefer to work with the fabric held loosely in the non-working hand. Some people prefer hoops. Try both, and see which works for you. Cheap wooden hoops will make you cry; get the cheap plastic ones instead.
You *will* have to unpick work, and that's just part of the gig, just as unravelling is for knitting and crochet.
If you're working from a chart, photocopy it. Every time you finish a row, draw a line through it on the photocopy. Makes navigation way, way easier. (If you prefer to highlight a row, that's fine, too.)
Start from the center. This will help keep you from wandering off the edge of your fabric. The pattern will usually have the center marked. Find the center of your fabric by folding it in quarters.
Blunt scissors will also make you cry. Fiskars are often cheap and sharp.
Oh! Everybody will tell you to do this, but you'll skip it because it's boring. Don't skip it. When you cut the floss, separate *each individual thread* from the other. Then lay the threads back on top of each other: two threads, three, four, whatever. Separating the threads in the floss completely, then reassembling them really cuts down on the tangling.
Other 101 stuff
Some people prefer to work with the fabric held loosely in the non-working hand. Some people prefer hoops. Try both, and see which works for you. Cheap wooden hoops will make you cry; get the cheap plastic ones instead.
You *will* have to unpick work, and that's just part of the gig, just as unravelling is for knitting and crochet.
If you're working from a chart, photocopy it. Every time you finish a row, draw a line through it on the photocopy. Makes navigation way, way easier. (If you prefer to highlight a row, that's fine, too.)
Start from the center. This will help keep you from wandering off the edge of your fabric. The pattern will usually have the center marked. Find the center of your fabric by folding it in quarters.
Blunt scissors will also make you cry. Fiskars are often cheap and sharp.
Oh! Everybody will tell you to do this, but you'll skip it because it's boring. Don't skip it. When you cut the floss, separate *each individual thread* from the other. Then lay the threads back on top of each other: two threads, three, four, whatever. Separating the threads in the floss completely, then reassembling them really cuts down on the tangling.